Putin says he will invite Hamas leaders to Moscow

By Haaretz Service

Haaretz

Shvat 12, 5766

Russian
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would invite Hamas leaders to
Moscow, opening a crack in a wall of U.S.-led opposition to dealing with
the Palestinian election winner until it recognized
Israel.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State David Welch said he had
not yet been updated on the invitation of Hamas officials to Moscow. He
noted that Russia is part of the Quartet, and the U.S. expects that all
meetings and dialogue with Hamas officials be held according to decisions
made by the Quartet.

Putin's decision marks a departure from the
international position taken since Hamas won the Palestinian elections
last month. The U.S. and Europe have refrained from contact with Hamas
leaders and called on the organization to recognize Israel, quit violence,
and abide by agreements the Palestinian Authority signed with Israel in
the past.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official said in Gaza that
leaders of the group, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, "would
be delighted" to visit Russia if Putin tendered a formal
invitation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in Jerusalem
there should be no talks with Hamas until it recognizes Israel's right to
exist, renounces terror and accepts the Middle East peace
process.

"Maintaining our contacts with Hamas, we are ready in the
near future to invite the Hamas authorities to Moscow to hold talks,"
Putin told a news conference in the Spanish capital Madrid where he was on
a visit.

Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, Putin said: "We
haven't considered Hamas a terrorist organization. Today we must recognize
that Hamas has reached power in Palestine as a result of legitimate
elections and we must respect the choice of the Palestinian
people."

International Middle East envoy James Wolfensohn said
Thursday he is working to ease the cash-trapped Palestinian Authority's
dire financial situation, which took a turn for the worse last month after
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, swept
Palestinian elections.

Western nations have threatened to withhold
hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, Israel is liable to stop
transferring monthly payments needed to pay PA salaries, and Arab nations
have not followed through on promises to deliver more money.

"We
are looking to put together a package which will ensure the financial
pressure is relieved for the coming period," Wolfensohn said after meeting
with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah to discuss
the shifting political map.

He did not elaborate or specify whether
that period would extend to the time Hamas took power.

Wolfensohn
said he did not come to set conditions for cash injections. But the group
he represents already has done so.

Wolfensohn is an envoy of the
Quartet that drew up the long-stalled "road map" peace plan - the U.S.,
UN, European Union and Russia. Last week, the Quartet pledged continued
aid to Abbas's caretaker administration but warned that further aid would
be at risk if Hamas wouldn't renounce violence and recognize
Israel.

Western donors funnel about $900 million to the
Palestinians each year, most of it designated for reconstruction projects
in the impoverished Gaza Strip and West Bank.

In Cairo on
Wednesday, the group's political chief, Khaled Meshal, again rebuffed
international demands to recognize Israel and renounce
violence.

Meshal also told the state-run Qatar News Agency on
Thursday that Hamas planned to ask Arab and Muslim states for political
and financial support to counter threats from the West to halt Palestinian
aid.

"We are confident that Arab and Muslim countries will stand by
Hamas and support the Palestinian people to respond to calls for punishing
them," Meshal said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State
Condolezza Rice said that international aid could not flow to Hamas unless
it recognizes Israel's right to exist. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has
also urged the world to isolate a Hamas-led government.

Abbas
spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said after the meeting that Wolfensohn would
tour the Gulf to recruit aid.

Saudi Arabia promised $20 million and
Qatar pledged $13 million in quick aid to help the PA pay January salaries
to 137,000 employees, a senior Palestinian official said earlier in the
month. But by Thursday, the money had not arrived.